Pride and Power

by ThornfieldHall

It was a truth universally denied that a girl with an ailing family, had little wish for a husband. Unfortunately for Margaret Hale it was a truth universally acknowledged that that a single merchant in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. AKA the Jane Austen-esque regency AU no one asked for.

6. A Multitude of Conversations

"Dear Edith,

Much has happened since your last letter. I am pleased to say we have finally settled and have been introduced to society. I admit, the people here are not as colourful as your friends in Corfu, but they are open and honest, which is more than enough. I've learned a couple of things of society here: some tradesmen do live up to the cliches. They're shoppy, cunning and power hungry with a big ego. Luckily, those are few and far between. Most do remember where they come from and are simply proud of their accomplishments. The women here have a true fascination with anything and everything southern. The women in the street ask about the fabrics of my dress and the patterns of my shawl, and the women I meet during dinners are excited by every story I tell them about London. They were simply ecstatic when I played the last popular pieces I heard in London, and you know I am not the best musician.

I shall firstly answer your questions:
- It is indeed colder here, and the winds are quite strong. Luckily we have a good amount of hearths in our house. It has finally snowed, which doesn't help the temperature. But as you know, I quite enjoy snow, so I bear the cold.
- Society isn't of the same level. They always talk of the same things: trade, economics and the weather. It's a lot less gay, the people here are very grave and focussed on work. Though that may very well be due to the fact that in London we met a lot of military people and people without profession. They are less inclined to discuss their occupations, especially in the presence of women, but many women are involved in business around here.
- Yes, they sound very different. Not exactly Irish, nor Scottish. To be honest it sound quite flat and lazy, the lower classes take no effort to pronounce their words, and they transform quite a lot of words as well. The higher classes conceal it well, but we southerners hear the difference from Oxford English.
-I was quite harsh in my judgement of Mr Thornton in my previous letter. I was still quite unaccustomed to the northern ways and traditions. I believe we have a better understanding now. He is not bad, though I must confess I don't quite like him either.

Liverpool doesn't seem to be without charm; as it is quite lovely when it has snowed, and the people greet you on the street as you pass by. It is also not without excitement: some of the company owners we are acquainted with disagree quite a lot. I've also been in the company of some young ladies, they are very much busy with finding husbands, which sometimes leads to amusing situations and talks. But rest assured, my sweetest cousin, no one holds a candle to you.

But on the topic of you: I wish you and Captain Lennox my sincerest congratulations. I hope the new year will bring good health for you and the baby. I simply cannot wait to see the child, it will without a doubt be the most adorable infant on the planet.

I am equally glad to hear of your stories in Corfu, I can just about imagine what the island looks like. Your tales bring me real delight every time a letter arrives. Do keep me updated.

PS: Send aunt Shaw and your husband my regards, I love and miss them both, and think of them.

Yours truly,

Margaret"

X.x.X

'Can I get ye a bevvy?' Bessy Higgins asked when Margaret visited some days after the awkward dinner.

'A what?'

'S'thing to drink.'

'Yes, thank you.'

Bessy hadn't improved, but her health hadn't deteriorated further. She remained pessimistic about getting better. But it was clear Bessy didn't wish to talk about herself.

Instead she found great pleasure in listening to Margaret as she described Helstone and London, with Bessy much preferring the description of Helstone. Just like Henry, she called it an idyllic place with Eden-like qualities. But suddenly, Margaret felt the need to correct Bessy. The poor girl would never travel, and now she thought that every town and city was better than Liverpool or Milton, where she had previously worked and had become ill.

Margaret started talking about the heavy labour, the lack of healthcare and society, the monotonous life. These had been things she herself had always forgotten or tried to ignore about Helstone, and indeed, though Helstone held a special spot in her heart, she didn't believe it to be perfect like she used to.

Then Bessy directed the conversation elsewhere, somewhere less comfortable.

'But now, I know Mr Hallagher, the young one, learns things from yo father. Have yo happened to meet any o' t' business owners? To us, they are just those who pay us 'n offer work. What 're they like as persons?'

'I have met them. A bunch of them even. Let's see who I can recall. There was a dinner at Mr Reeves house last week. Mr Slickson was there, and Mr Ball and all of the Gallaghers, Mr Thornton was there too… Oh yes and a Mr Watson too. Let's see, a day later, we were invited to a dinner at the Gallagher house. There I met a Mr Kearney and Sir Edward Aldridge… There were some other new people too, but I didn't get to know them or talk with them.'

'Whew, ye've been talking to all o' the big Scouse comp'ny owners we got. Are they kind in person, or still unkind?'

'Mr Slickson is… Well..'

'Thought as much, nasty sly fox that one.'

'The Reeves are a charming family.'

'Ye, cause he never pays his employees enough. But they all get fed nuff, even got a doctor on board. Slickson's poor workers aren't as lucky.'

'The Gallagher's are very smart and kind. Polite as well. Miss Galagher got engaged to Mr Kearney last week, he's a lawyer.'

'Kearney? What Kearney?' Bessy asked, her attitude suddenly changing.

'I don't know, is there not only one?'

'The young one or the old one?'

'I heard the old one died.'

'Is it a convenient match?'

'Out of love. Why, Bessy?'

'Hoo brought a friend of mine in a bad position some ten years ago, when hoo was but a lass. Girl worked at his house, got fired instantly. Never mind, I shouldn't talk of such things with a lady, it ain't right. Excuse me miss, they are engaged. Men always treat their brides better than they do their servants. Let us talk of other men. You met a sir? How was he?'

The words shocked Margaret. But she pushed the thoughts away. It had taken her days to get the silly questions out of her head, she wasn't going to dwell on it again. It was settled, they were to be wed.

'Handsome and kind. A true gentleman. A baronet worthy of his title, and very much a man of station.'

'Is he old?'

'No, quite young. Only twenty-six.'

'Ooh, and?'

'And what?'

'Is he unmarried?'

'Yes, but I don't see where you are going with this.'

'Well with you meeting all these fancy people and being so bonnie yerself, you wouldn't do bad with one of them.'

'Me with a baronet?'

'Are ye not a lady?'

'I'm neither rich nor of any real rank.'

'Yer a southron lady, London society and all that fancy stuff. Hard to come by in these regions, I bet he's met every girl with money there is to find in the city. Besides, if one's already got so much money, why should the other have it as well?'

'I enjoy his company, but to say I want to marry him?'

'Have ye dwelt on it?'

'No, I haven't.'

'Do you no want to marry him?'

'Well, I- It's not like I have something against him. I just don't feel anything for him either.'

'How does he look?'

'Brown hair with curls, green eyes, small sideburns. Strong cheekbones, decided chin, slender brow, healthy of complexion. Slender of frame, but very tall. Well dressed.'

'Sounds very dashing to me.'

'He is.'

'And Mr Ball? He's single too.'

'I- I-'

'Oh come on, humour me. I thought he was the handsomest of the owners.'

'So does my mother', Margaret admitted with a smile.

'I danced with him.'

'Did you?' Bessy smiled.

'He's a good dancer. And a good conversationalist.'

'Yes, he cares more about us, so did his father. Not that Gallagher is bad, but it is known that Ball is more busy with his employees and Gallagher is more occupied with the transactions and customers.'

'And Mr Thornton? Haven't heard anything of him yet.'

Margaret lifted her shoulders.

'I don't know.'

'I've never seen him before, what's he like?'

'I hardly know. His face reflects the determination of his mind. He seems very rational and pragmatic, as if he has no feeling at all. He has such a detached way of thinking. He's honest and without pretence though. I can give him that.'

'How does he look?'

'Thick black hair, blue eyes, heavy of brow, deep set eyes, a very decided strong jaw. He's tall and broad shouldered.'

'Ye don't like him, do ye miss? I see it in the way your face is conflicted when you talk of him, like you don't know what to make of him. '

'I cannot agree with his views, Bessy.'

'You talked about views? Of what?'

'His business, business in general, economics, the differences between the north and the south.'

'I thought women weren't able to join that kind of conversation? That's nice, someone who lets a woman talk about important matter. I rather clash with my father when he talks about laying down work with the other employees. Hoo doesn't let me talk though, he and his friends will be here and I will be excluded as if I can have no real opinion. He's a good man, if he's honest, handsome and treats yo this way.'

' I know plenty of men who do talk about intellectual topics with women. It is also the first time I met any of them, except Mr Thornton. Therefor it would be weird to immediately discuss such heavy topics. Maybe all the men I met would let me talk about it.'

Yet she knew it wasn't thus. Slickson was not one to let a woman tell him what to do. No, he had revelled in explaining to her just how different his view was from hers. He didn't mind her worry and disgust in the slightest. The others had just remained silent. Every time Margaret had spoken out, only Mr Thornton had answered her. And when her father let Margaret join the conversation at home, Mr Thornton took her answers, however naïve and unknowing they were, seriously. Even her first conversation with Mr Thornton had been of a very unique nature. She had never engaged in empty conversation with him. But she decided to ignore that. Admitting to that would encourage Bessy.

'I'm happy for ye. Then it is perhaps simply the men of my rank who look down upon women.'

'Are ye geggin in lass? Don't let hoo bother ye with questions yo don't want to answer.'* Nicholas Higgins said as he entered, having overheard Bessy's questions.

Shortly after the arrival of Mr Higgins, Margaret went home.

X.x.X

'Margaret dear, come here please.' Dixon held open the door to her mother's drawing room when Margaret was passing through the hall.

As Margaret entered, Dixon went to stand closer to her mistress. 'Margaret, when your father went to London for Edith's wedding, he bought something. I had been planning on giving it to you on Christmas Eve, but it appears my strength has quite left me. I had plenty of time alone to work on it, but I tire so quickly as of late. I'm terribly sorry my dear, but I thought it better to give it to you now, so that you could modify it to the latest fashion, as I don't know what has been fashionable the last couple of years.'

As Mrs Hale finished talking, she lifted a scarf from her lap, revealing a smooth yellow satin underneath, the exact same colour of Helstone roses.

'Oh mama, it is beautiful!'

Margaret took the fabric, which had already been trimmed to her size. It already had sleeves, a hem and a neckline. It would only need a waist and detailing.

'I thought you would like it, and the colour suits your complexion so well.' Margaret bent and gave her mother a hug. 'I love you, mama.'

'And I love you dear. Oh, and this I had to tell: Mrs and Miss Thornton are coming over for tea tomorrow, and Miss Gallagher asked us to join their Christmas celebrations.'

X.x.X

Mr. Thornton had had some difficulty in working up his mother to the desired point of civility. She did not often make calls; and when she did, it was because she felt she had the duty to do so. Her son had given her a carriage; but she refused to let him keep horses for it; they were hired for the solemn occasions, when she paid morning or evening visits.

She had repeatedly questioned her son why his wish that she should call on the Hales was so strong. She would have been thankful if it had not; for, as she said, 'she saw no use in making up friendships and intimacies with all the teachers and masters in Milton; why, he would be wanting her to call on Fanny's dancing-master's wife, the next thing!'

'And so I would, mother, if Mr. Mason and his wife were in a strange new place without many friends, like the Hales.'

'Oh! you need not speak so hastily. I am going to-morrow. I only wanted to understand why you want it so much.'

'If you are going to-morrow, I shall order horses.'

'Nonsense, John. One would think you were made of money.'

'Not quite, yet. But about the horses I'm determined. The last time you were out in a cab, you came home with a headache from the jolting.'

'I never complained of it, I'm sure.'

'No. My mother is not given to complaints,' said he, a little proudly. 'But so much the more I have to watch over you. Now as for Fanny there, a little hardship would do her good.'

'She is not made of the same stuff as you are, John. She could not bear it.' Mrs. Thornton was silent after this. She had an unconscious contempt for a weak character; and Fanny was weak in the very points in which her mother and brother were strong. Just as she thought of her, her daughter appeared.

'Fanny dear I shall have horses to the carriage to-day, to go and call on these Hales. Should not you go and see nurse? It's in the same direction, and she's always so glad to see you. You could go on there while I am at Mrs. Hale's.'

'Oh! mamma, it's such a long way, and I am so tired.'

'With what?' asked Mrs. Thornton, her brow slightly contracting.

'I don't know-the weather, I think', Fanny replied. But moreover she had heard Miss Hale and Mrs Gallagher had been thick as thieves during the dinner which she herself had skipped, feigning some illness because she hadn't wished to go. Yet, despite that she herself had decided not to go, she felt jealous that one of her friends had gotten along so well with the new worldly Miss Hale. She felt both robbed of a friend by Miss Hale, and simultaneously wished she had been the one Miss Hale had been so close with. But John simply instructed Fanny to go and that was the end of it, headache or not.

'Mother! I need hardly say, that if there is any little thing that could serve Mrs. Hale as an invalid, you will offer it, I'm sure', John pleaded right before they left.

'If I can find it out, I will. But I have never been ill myself, so I am not much up to invalids' fancies.'

X.x.X

Mr. Thornton had had some difficulty in working up his mother to the desired point of civility. She did not often make calls; and when she did, it was because she felt she had the duty to do so. Her son had given her a carriage; but she refused to let him keep horses for it; they were hired for the solemn occasions, when she paid morning or evening visits.

She had repeatedly questioned her son why his wish that she should call on the Hales was so strong. She would have been thankful if it had not; for, as she said, 'she saw no use in making up friendships and intimacies with all the teachers and masters in Liverpool; why, he would be wanting her to call on Fanny's dancing-master's wife, the next thing!'

'And so I would, mother, if Mr. Mason and his wife were in a strange new place without many friends, like the Hales.'

'Oh! you need not speak so hastily. I am going to-morrow. I only wanted to understand why you want it so much.'

'If you are going to-morrow, I shall order horses.'

'Nonsense, John. One would think you were made of money.'

'Not quite, yet. But about the horses I'm determined. The last time you were out in a cab, you came home with a headache from the jolting.'

'I never complained of it, I'm sure.'

'No. My mother is not given to complaints,' said he, a little proudly. 'But so much the more I have to watch over you. Now as for Fanny there, a little hardship would do her good.'

'She is not made of the same stuff as you are, John. She could not bear it.' Mrs. Thornton was silent after this. She had an unconscious contempt for a weak character; and Fanny was weak in the very points in which her mother and brother were strong. Just as she thought of her, her daughter appeared.

'Fanny dear I shall have horses to the carriage to-day, to go and call on these Hales. Should not you go and see nurse? It's in the same direction, and she's always so glad to see you. You could go on there while I am at Mrs. Hale's.'

'Oh! mamma, it's such a long way, and I am so tired.'

'With what?' asked Mrs. Thornton, her brow slightly contracting.

'I don't know-the weather, I think', Fanny replied. But moreover she had heard Miss Hale and Mrs Gallagher had been thick as thieves during the dinner which she herself had skipped, feigning some illness because she hadn't wished to go. Yet, despite that she herself had decided not to go, she felt jealous that one of her friends had gotten along so well with the new worldly Miss Hale. She felt both robbed of a friend by Miss Hale, and simultaneously wished she had been the one Miss Hale had been so close with. But John simply instructed Fanny to go and that was the end of it, headache or not.

'Mother! I need hardly say, that if there is any little thing that could serve Mrs. Hale as an invalid, you will offer it, I'm sure', John pleaded right before they left.

'If I can find it out, I will. But I have never been ill myself, so I am not much up to invalids' fancies.'

And Mrs Thornton thought Mrs Hale fancied herself ill much like Fanny did, until she arrived at the house. Her guesses were both confirmed and deconstructed when she entered the drawing room with Fanny. The drawing room was small, they were not rich indeed, nor remarkable. Their interior was as ordinary and pointlessly decorated with knick-knacks and filled with more cushions than people, as most households were. For a poor family, that must take a long time to dust.

But the Mrs Hale indeed looked frail and pained, as she sat in her seat with her double knitting. A sturdy sensible thing to make, Mrs Thornton thought approvingly. Her gaze then went to the dark haired woman with shoulders which were proudly pushed backwards. Her chin was lifted. Margaret desperately tried to look composed and comfortable as the stout woman in black entered the room with authority, as she bid them to sit, as she would ask anyone down the south, Mrs Thornton, like her son had feared, felt a natural dislike for the girl with the same natural authority and dignified look she herself had. Margaret was busy embroidering a small piece of cambric for a dress for Edith's expected baby, which was deemed useless by Mrs Thornton's pragmatic mind.

Mrs Thornton uttered all the stereotyped commonplaces that most people can find to say with their senses blindfolded. Mrs. Hale was making rather more exertion in her answers, Mrs Hale had a great admiration for the expensive antique lace Mrs Thornton was wearing, and thus Mrs Thornton and her family became worthy of something more than the languid exertion to be agreeable to a visitor, by which Mrs Hale's efforts at conversation would have been otherwise bounded because her lack of illness lead her to pragmatically choose what she spent her energy on.

'Well Miss Hale, I must confess I am surprised that I don't see a piano,' said Fanny.

'I am fond of hearing good music; I cannot play very well myself; and papa and mamma don't care much about it; so we sold our old piano when we came here, as it was quite heavy to transport.'

'Oh, but your play was so lovely at the Reeves' dinner party.'

'I must confess I was lucky. When I lived with my aunt, I played frequently, until the latest melodies were memorized. At home in Helstone I filled many hours playing. My fingers were still trained. I'm no natural, I have to train a lot to play a decent melody. I assume I shall soon lose the necessary control in my fingers needed to play.' Margaret's answer pained her, she had been so occupied with the dramatic adjustment moving brought forth, that she had quietly accepted all chances without pondering on the long term effects. Margaret had never been very accomplished to begin with. She could draw, she could paint, her piano skills were passable, she was an alright dancer, but she couldn't sing, nor did she posses some of the usual set of accomplishments. She was overly schooled, which men mostly disliked, and she preferred commoners above gentry, which was the most heinous of her crimes.

'I wonder how you can exist without one. It almost seems to me a necessity of life.'

It was just a piano. Margaret's necessity was healthy parents, a roof over her head, a comfortable bed. A piano wouldn't even make the top 20.

As Fanny was simply Fanny, she yet again brought the topic back to London, and complained that she hadn't yet gone there. As Margaret knew it had no use to downtalk the greatness of a place someone wanted to visit, she simply humoured her with the response she guessed Fanny wished to hear. 'But surely, it is a very easy journey to London.'

'Yes; but somehow,' said Fanny, lowering her voice, 'mamma has never been to London herself, and can't understand my longing. She is very proud of Liverpool; dirty, rainy place, as I feel it to be. I believe she admires it the more for those very qualities.'

'If it has been Mrs. Thornton's home for some years, I can well understand her loving it,' said Margaret, in her clear bell-like voice.

'What are you saying about me, Miss Hale? May I inquire?'

Margaret had not the words ready for an answer to this question, which took her a little by surprise, so Miss Thornton replied: 'Oh, mamma! we are only trying to account for your being so fond of Liverpool.'

'Thank you,' said Mrs. Thornton. 'I do not feel that my very natural liking for the place where I was born and brought up, requires any reason.'

Margaret was vexed. As Fanny had put it, it did seem as if they had been impertinently discussing Mrs. Thornton's feelings; but she also rose up against that lady's manner of showing that she was offended. She wanted to defend herself, but at the same time she didn't simply want to say something to someone who seemed to want to misinterpret her

Mrs. Thornton went on after a moment's pause: 'Do you know anything of Liverpool, Miss Hale? Have you seen any of our docks? Our magnificent warehouses?'

'No!' said Margaret. 'I have not seen anything of that description as yet. Then she felt that, by concealing her utter indifference to all such places, she was hardly speaking with truth; so she went on: 'I dare say, papa would have taken me before now if I had cared. But I really do not find much pleasure in going over.' She could not have insulted Mrs Thornton, who knew all too well that the reason for the city's prosperity lay in these places and therefore loved those locations, even if they were no usual places for women of their ranks.

'They are very curious places,' said Mrs. Hale, 'but there is so much noise and dirt always. I remember once going in a lilac silk to see candles made, and my gown was utterly ruined.'

'Very probably,' said Mrs. Thornton, in a short displeased manner, insulted that Mrs Hale understood so little of the trade and the workshops that made this city big that she compared their industries to candle making. 'I merely thought, that as strangers newly come to reside
in a town which has risen to eminence in the country, from the character and progress of its peculiar business, you might have cared to visit some of the places where it is carried on. If Miss Hale changes her mind and condescends to be curious as to the people who make Liverpool big, I can only say I shall be glad to procure her admission to print-works, or incoming boats and trade in our warehouses.'

'I am so glad you don't like stinky fish and rough fabrics and tobacco, and all those kind of things,' said Fanny, in a half-whisper, as she rose to accompany her mother, who was taking leave of Mrs. Hale with rustling dignity.

'I think I should like to know all about them, if I were you,' replied Margaret quietly. She didn't feel that it was proper, as a sister, to talk badly about the business that made their family great again. Margaret rose as well. Feeling vexed that Mrs Thornton seemed to have decided that Margaret looked down on Liverpool and with that, every acquaintance she had already made, including her son.

Margaret was no lover of trade, she'd always made that clear. But she'd been wanting to understand it, as this was her city now, and Mrs Thornton vexed her so with always assuming to know what Margaret thought. Mrs Thornton probably assumed Margaret wouldn't take her up on the offer because she was a southern lady who was afraid of these places.

'Thank you for the offer Mrs Thornton. I don't care particularly for trade as a business, but what I do care about is the city I am living in. I wish to understand it, and maybe, by understanding the business, its people. I would happily take you up on that offer if you are ever so kind.'

Mrs Thornton's eyebrows rose in surprise, and that made it all worthwhile. Margaret found herself almost looking forward to it, just to show the proud woman wrong. She did care, it was time she saw what her friend Mr Higgins did, and how Mr Thornton and the other people she had met, conducted their business.

'Very well, Miss Hale.'

Back in the carriage, Mrs Thornton thought on the events of the afternoon. Just ten minutes before leaving, she had been prepared to share her judgement about the Hale ladies with her daughter. The mother had seemed properly ill, and kind and quiet enough, and she was prepared to warn her daughter about Miss Hale. But then the girl had suddenly straightened up and taken Mrs Thornton up on her offer. She hadn't thought she would.

Miss Hale had been everything she expected from the south: proud, occupied with useless pastimes, and disgusted by labour. She had assumed she had no care for the real people who had to dirty their hands. She had defied that expectation. Just like she had shown spine and confidence in the face of Mrs Thornton, who knew all too well grown men cowered and hesitated when approached by her. If Margaret was intimidated by her airs and speech, she didn't show it. She still felt a strong dislike for the proud girl, but at the very least, her character demanded a very, very small amount of respect.

"Who are these Hales and why does John want us to befriend them so desperately?" She kept turning the question round and round in her head. She had expected the answer to be clear once she got to know them, but she was left wanting. Maybe meeting Mr Hale would clarify the business. Maybe John indeed felt a certain love for his teacher, and simply wanted his mother to be kind to the family of the man he had formed a friendship with. She knew she felt better once Fanny built friendships and John built contacts. Perhaps John had asked them for a similar reason.

---

NOTES

A calmer shorter chapter after the whirlwind that was the last one, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

1)* To geg in: to join in on something when you aren't invited: Nicholas' way of saying Bessy is trying to pry in business which isn't hers

2) Here is the dress Margaret will start to make. This one is from 1826. We're nearing Christmas 1824 in my story so it's a bit of an anachronism, but not by much. I've tried to make clear in the previous chapters that Margaret's lower waist and rounder sleeves were somewhat of a novelty. By 1824 the with of the bust had already become wider, and the skirts bigger as well. Margaret's daytime dress is quite average and normal, but her dinner dresses are quite new since she only recently acquired 'adult' ones. Most women of Margaret's capital don't have that many new dresses made, meaning most of her dresses will be between two-four years old and thus a 'normal' fashion in Liverpool. (Her dresses can't be much older since Margaret is just about nineteen, as women got their periods later than we do now, I estimate she would've kept growing until her 14th-15th birthday. I myself still fit in my dresses and shirts from when I was 12 while I'm 22 now, but I know most women don't)br /
. /digital/collection/p15324coll12/id/3704

3) To Kfkylie and the two guests: Thank you so much for commenting, it does mean a lot to me that people enjoy reading my story